


paint the stars and science with our hearts

by TheCarrot



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Art Professor Finn, But feel free to take it if you want to do something with it, F/F, I feel like I should apologize to C3P0... for reasons, M/M, Not Beta Read, Poe gets roped into teaching by Leia, Top Secret Ex-Pilot Poe Dameron, collage AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:35:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25412491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCarrot/pseuds/TheCarrot
Summary: Poe frowns as he looks at his old General sitting across the small coffee table from him. “I’m sorry you want me to do what?”“Teach, Dameron.” Leia repeats for the third time.Poe smells a trap.
Relationships: Jessika Pava/Rey/Rose Tico, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Rose Tico
Comments: 13
Kudos: 51
Collections: FinnPoe Week 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So it's kind of not the High School AU Day 1 asked for... but I wrote a collage AU where they're teachers. Clueless sexy teacher who have no chill.
> 
> *This fic has a Modern Setting but BB-8 is still a droid because Poe used to do Top Secret work that was testing space-flight before almost getting dragged into a war.
> 
> There’s no force, but I kept a lot of the Star Wars names and such.
> 
> Rated Teen for swearing! #letoscarisaacsayfuck

Poe frowns as he looks at his old General sitting across the small coffee table from him. “I’m sorry you want me to do what?”

“Teach, Dameron.” Leia repeats for the third time.

“Um, General-“

She raises a hand to stop him, “Just Leia now, Poe.” 

Um, no, Poe thinks to himself. That is never likely to happen but he leaves it for now and deviates back to his original problem. “Uh, I’m not a teacher. I have never taught anything, literally, in my entire life. Don’t you have substitutes for this?”

“One would think,” Leia huffs and in a move Poe has never seen her do in any war room back on any of the bases they had been station on, sags back into the cheap metal seat and crosses her arms. “But the next qualified substitute isn’t available until next year and there’s still four months left of this semester that I need to get my students through.”

Poe frowns, “And you think I’m a qualified to do that?”

Brown eyes regard him coolly and Poe finds his back straightening up in a way that makes him feel like a cadet all over agin. “Dameron, you have a PhD from Coreilla in Advanced Thermodynamic Engineering, a Bachelors Degree in Aerospace Avionics and not to mention,” she smiles at him. “A rather impressive military stint in the cockpit of Black One for the Star Fighters... You’re more qualified than the professor I had before. You’ll just have a bit of a learning curve with lesson planning and grading.”

Yeah okay, that would make him fairly qualified but... oh god... lesson plans… grading? How does one even?! Poe grimaces. “But I was only ever a pilot General, you’ll never get me past any school board.”

“Already cleared you.”

Poe blinks at her, momentarily stunned, but then he remembers. “Right. Skywalker. Your brother’s in the Administration.” She gives him a smile and nods and Poe just lets his head hit the coffee table as he mutters, “This is a trap. This is definitely a trap. I don’t know how or why but I feel it.”

She doesn’t say he’s wrong. In fact Leia, for all her great posture, merely reaches over and pats him on the back of the head with an amused smile. “So I’ll take it that’s a yes.” 

Its not a question and Poe knows it because ever since he met her ten years ago he’s never been able to tell General Organa, No. Not even when it ended up with him crashed behind enemy lines in Crait. “Four months?”

“Four months, Dameron. Get them through to their exams alive, that’s all I ask.”

Okay, yeah, Poe can do that. For Leia he’d probably do anything. 

Has done anything.

“Fine.”

He still smells a trap.

-

“BeeBee I’m home!” Poe shouts as he shoves open his front door and curses as he almost trips over the still unpacked boxes his father had sent him over a month ago. Back when he had just bought the house after finishing his discharge requirements from the Navy hospital. He shuffles them out of his way with his foot as he throws his jacket over the railing and makes his way over to the bookcases in his living room that are crammed full of everything from his old manuals to a battered copy of Good Omens and even some of Karé’s yoga manuals.

He’s got two days to try and refresh some of the more basic physics again and pretend he even remotely remembers what it’s to be in a classroom and not behind the yoke of aircraft. Stars, what he wouldn’t give to be back in Black One right now... even if his fighter is sitting in scattered pieces of debris somewhere on the valley floor in the middle of a desert along with several pints of his blood and maybe even a part of a rib and some organ tissue. 

A beeping noise screeches from the next room and Poe frowns, looking around his legs for his sequestered droid for a moment, before shaking his head. He takes a stack of books into his kitchen, bending down to see a small, round, orange and white robot stuck in the legs of his new dining room table, it’s mini-welding torch stuck in the rungs of the chairs.

“BB-8, buddy, you are the smartest AI in the world, how did you even manage to get in there?” Poe laughs at his best friend and the droid beeps back at him with a curse. 

“You spent way too much time in the R&D labs with Pava and R2.” He says as he moves the chairs out of the way, reaching into the tangle of probe to free his droid. “Come on Bee, you can come help me study while I call Karé.”

—

It’s a day later, on a warm Sunday afternoon when the General calls Poe in for the official tour of her university, by whom, she informs him, is her Art Professor and who Poe will later inform Karé and Jess, is the hottest person he has ever laid eyes on. And the amount of people he’s seen has not been insubstantial. 

Leia herself is lounging back on her chair in sweatpants and an overly large grey sweater that reads ‘D’qar Rebels’ of which she kindly tells him is the schools sport team. “Because I know how much you love sports Dameron.” She chides. 

Poe’s two seconds away from putting aside the whole, ‘General in Civvies’ thing his brain has unhelpfully latched onto, to snark back at her (because she knows Poes greatest weakness is not caring about the difference between hockey and lacrosse), when the door to her office swings opens to interrupt them. 

The man that enters is so startling gorgeous that the snark falls away from Poe’s lips and his jaw slips open without full cooperation from his brain. Poe’s keen eyes take in the neatly rowed hair, so thick and dark that Poe immediately wants to dig his fingers into it and see if its as gorgeous between his fingers. His gaze traces over the miles of smooth skin of the mans arms, and holy kriff- hello biceps, but Poes brain screeches to a halt when he tries to tear his eyes away from the staring, dropping them towards the floor, only to be distracted halfway down by the way the mans dark wash jeans cling to the muscle of his thighs.

 _Oh shit,_ Poe thinks.

“Ah, excellent timing Finn,” Leia greets, her smirk all knowing and Poe jerks himself out of his stupor at her tone by sheer reflex. “Sorry to pull you away on such a busy weekend for you.”

“Not at all ma’am, I was due for a break.” The man smiles and Poe so badly wants to see that smile directed at him. Wonders if he would survive the full force of it. If it would feel as adrenaline surging as he thinks it would to be pulled into those eyes that mimic the colour he’s only seen in space. 

The smirk is still apparent in Leia’s voice when she motions to her old Commander. “Finn, I’d like you to meet Poe Dameron. He’s going to be taking over for C3P0.” 

“Hi.” Poe greets, feeling far more breathless than he’s ever been before; and he once broke two ribs during an impact with another ship while pulling 9 g’s. The mans face spilts into a toothy grin then and Poe feels irrevocably done for. He can feel Leia’s eyes boring into his back, her amusement silent yet so prominent. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Dameron,” The man, Finn, greets him. “Leia’s told us nothing about you.”

Poe laughs and reaches out to shake Finns hand and hopefully not swoon into his arms at the same time. “She’s like that, and just Poe is fine Mr.-”

“Finn Trooper.” He finishes and Poe’s not sure if he’s imagining it when Finn holds onto his hand for longer than is strictly necessary. “But everyone calls me Finn.”

Leia coughs interrupting whatever nonsense Poe is sure was going to come out of his mouth next, before shooing them both out of her office and Finn wastes no time in leading Poe away. 

—

Spending time with Finn is like spending time in the wake of an ion torpedo being launched across space, Poe realizes as he’s slowly led across the campus grounds. Finn is the best guide Poe’s ever seen; had started with the main building, then to the library and the study halls with their large windows and the courtyard with it’s picnic tables and trees… but if asked, it would probably take Poe forever and a day to come up with a an answer as to where anything is located. 

\--

“So the Cafeteria is just through there, only good days to eat there are Tuesday and Thursday, everything else I think are just plated ration packs or something.” Finn states with a shudder. 

Poe shrugs, “I’ve had those, some of them aren’t too bad.” Ignores the abject horror on Finn’s face by laughing until his eyes crinkle. \--

Poe is sure he absorbs only a minuscule fraction of what Leia’s most prominent Art Professor is saying about the buildings and how to get to and from as they continue onwards. He's far too busy watching the way Finn’s hands move as he talks, watching the smile grow and grow on the younger mans face as he waves to the students he knows as they pass by them outside. 

\--

“Most of the faculty is pretty nice, you’re replacing C3P0’s classes right?” Finn turns on his heel to walk backwards, and Poe gulps when he sticks his hands in his pocket, pulling at the already tight fabric of his jeans. 

Poe does manage a nod though so he thinks this tour is going rather smoothly. “Y-yeah, Advanced Avionics and- and okay, wait,” Poe frowns because Leia had said it earlier too. “What’s a C3P0?”

The only time in his life Poe’s ever cursed his own reaction time is now because Finn pauses and it’s only his sharp reflexes that save Poe from crashing into the grinning professor. 

“It’s a Mr. Cornelius Parnell Pemberton Perrigene-Outerbridge.” Replies Finn. “But everyone just called him Mr. C3PO. It was easier.” 

Poe stares at the younger man aghast; wants to argue that that name couldn’t possibly be a thing, but his brain fries a moment later when Finn’s face splits into another near blinding smile and Poe knows he’s in for a world of trouble with this man. 

\--

He finds himself laughing at Finn’s sharp humour for the rest of the tour instead, at the way smart quips seem to just roll off his tongue like breathing; and then there’s that small smear of yellow just above Finns ear that Poe finds incredibly distracting and Poe is reaching up to brush against it before he really registers what he’s doing. 

Finn stops talking at the brush of surprisingly calloused fingers, glances over at the other man, his heart suddenly doing triple time in his chest at the sight of warm brown eyes so close to his. “Uh-”

Poe flushes crimson, jerks his hand back the second he clues in to what he’s doing. “Force! Sorry, you...” Poe flails for a moment, gesturing to his own ear with a wild hand. “Uh- you just have something yellow there…”

Finn feels his ears heat, his own blush darkening his cheeks and sure enough, when he scratches the skin by his ear, his fingers come away with a bit of still unset pale yellow ochre. “Oh, uh, thanks, No I was painting before I came here.” he laughs, doing his best to tamp down on the lingering feel of Poe’s fingers on his cheek as he tries to wipe the paint away, only succeeding in smearing it further.

“You were painting?” Poe perks up, interest flaring when Finn nods. "What do you paint?" "Oils mostly," Finn says as he scrubs a bit harder at the oil paint, thinks he might just be stuck with yellow on his face until he can find a bathroom. "I have an exhibit coming up soon so I was working on a few pieces." "Wow, well then I'm sorry to pull you away from your work." Poe gives Finn his best chagrined grin, even if he's not all that sorry. He digs in the pocket of his suit jacket for the packet of wipes he uses to clean grease off his hands after fiddling with BB-8; knows himself better by now than to leave the house without them and passes one over to Finn who takes it curiously. 

“You just carry wipes around with you?” Finn laughs as he finally feels the smear of paint come off. Gods he can't believe he had been walking around with Poe all this time with paint on his face?! 

Poe makes a weird shrugging-nod motion and holds the outside door of the building they had been walking towards, open for the other man. “They’re the only thing I’ve found that takes off EP grease.” He explains.

Finn nods in understanding. “Oh yeah, Rey has a special soap for that too. Complains about it all the time.” He grimaces thinking of the foul lemon smelling soap with all the weird granules in it that she had let him use once after he had upending an entire palette of oil paint all over himself. 

“Rey?”

“Oh, Rey’s the Robotics teacher, she’s in the lab right next-door to your classroom.” Finn brightens, taking his turn to hold the inside door open for Poe before leading him into the foyer of the building. “You’ll probably meet her today actually, seeing as she was the one who drove me in on a Sunday. Also the Art Building is just next door and I’m over here all the time so you’ll likely be seeing me a lot too. ”

There’s a curl of disappointment welling up in the pit of Poe’s stomach, as he listens to the fondness grow in the other mans voice when he says ‘Reys’ name. Hears it the same way he hears Karé say her husbands name and how that affection brightens Finn’s already cheerful tone. Let’s it war against the palatable excitement still growing in him at the thought of still getting the chance to see Finn at work every day.

“But anyways, this is you.” Finn announces throwing open a door Poe didn’t notice them stopping next to. 

The classroom when he enters it is way larger than anything Poe remembers from his own university days and his jaw drops at the realization that for the next four months…

This is his.

Damnit, what the hell has he gotten himself into...

—

Finn excuses himself for a moment, leaves a stunned Poe to check out his new classroom while mentioning that he’s just going to run next door and see if Rey is still around so he can introduce them… before running straight into the Robotics lab with his heart thudding in his throat. He doesn’t slam the door behind himself, but it’s a near thing, and Rey is already sitting on one of the lab tables playing with a roll of soldering wire with a shit eating grin on her face. 

“You… do not even start with me.” Finn mutters when he sees it.

Reys smirk only deepens. “Are you for real? I saw you practically drooling all over the man through the window Finn, it’s been like what- two hours, tops?”

Finn groans, sinks down along the back of the door to sit on the floor and buries his face in his hands. “Did you see him?! Like, did you actually see him? Where the hell did Organa find this guy? Runways R’us?!”

Hazel eyes regard him in amusement and Rey shakes her head at her friend. “So ask him if he's single?”

“REY!” Finn moans. “You don’t get it! I kriffing said ‘I’m Finn Trooper’ and then for some unknown reason added ‘but everyone calls me Finn’.” 

Her resounding laughter makes him want to throw the small blue recycling bin he’s sitting next to at her head. “That’s it, I’m just never going to be able to leave the art building ever again. I clearly can’t look at that face every day and still function.”

Rey just laughs harder and has to clutch onto the table to keep herself from falling off of the surface. And because she’s a good friend who has never seen Finn like this in all their years of friendship, can’t help but ask, “But what if he does the little face touch again, like he did outside the door there? You’d hate to miss that.”

Finn whimpers, burying his face in his knees and tries to put Poe Dameron’s gorgeous eyes out of his mind. “Rey I won’t survive …”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So two people asked for more of this and well... I hadn't had any plans on finishing it, so I'm honestly just going to dump what I have in the second chapter. IT'S NOT EDITED AT ALL! COMPLETELY UNBETA'D! 
> 
> So I'm so sorry!! But I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> If anyone wants to take this and actually make a story out of it, Please feel free? I never got around to fixing the whole universe thing, and there's a sad lack of flirting, but a lot of techno babble??

—

Finn introduces Poe to Rey and rey will not stop smirking at him and poe is a little heartbroken already because oh shit, this dude he’s been low-key, yeah, low-key jess’s voice in his head laughs, flirting with since meeting him two hours ago has a gf….

\--

Despite his reluctance, Poe takes to teaching with an aplomb he thought he left behind staring down enemy turrets in the Star Corps. As it turns out teaching is just like making sure the newbie pilots don’t go around and explode stuff they’re not meant to during training; teaching just has a much better behaved albiet shorter crowd.

The physic’s class is pretty much a bunch of kids, fresh out of high school by the looks of them and Poe wonders if he’s ever felt as awkward as he does when so many of them still put up their hands to ask to go to the bathroom. 

However it’s the Advanced Avionics class that makes Poe feel like he may have gotten in over his head with this whole teaching bit.

The students all stare at him when they enter the room and Poe can only raise an eyebrow back at them with the smirk he used to throw at his commanding officers when they gave him a ‘difficult’ mission. And Poe knows how they feel, a new teacher this close to the end of the semester is likely not ideal for them, some getting ready for exams and graduating at the end of the year according to Leia.

So he doesn’t make them introduce themselves, thankfully he doesn’t count more than forty heads, D’Qar is not a large town, and too remote to be popular, which is exactly the reason Poe moved here in the first place after getting released from the hospital and his military contract. Luckily Poe’s always been good with learning faces and names just by listening. Had creeped out so many newbie pilots in the past by doing that.

Instead Poe just introduces himself. “My names Poe Dameron, and as a personal favour to General Organa I’ll be taking over your class from mr…” he pauses for a moment. “From C3P0 until the end of the semester. You can call me Poe. Now, any questions?”

There’s no hands this time at least, but Poe feels a little put off by the open staring he’s currently being subjected too.

“Right, okay… Can anyone fill me in on where we are in this thing?” He holds up the textbook.

—

Poe goes home that first afternoon and chugs a beer straight out of his fridge before curling up by the island in his kitchen and hugging BB-8 as hard as he can. “I think this is going to be a lot harder than I’d imagined.”

BB-8 bloops back at him and Poe shakes his head, pulling another drink out of the fridge without standing up. 

“No buddy, even harder than the supposedly impossible space missions.”

—

It turns out the schedule falls so weirdly that Poe has the Advanced Avionics class two days in a row, Monday and Tuesday, before not seeing them for Wednesday and Thursday and than an early morning class with them on Friday. 

It apparently gives the older students time to come up with a lot of worrying questions. And gives him time to really come to terms with how literally screwed these kids are, because they apparently don’t know half the shit they’re supposed too.

-

“For the love of stars, of course I’m going to have you take apart an engine… how have you not done this yet?”

-

“No you can not put that shit near an engine… of any kind. It will explode.”

-

“Um… yes I’m single, wh-why is that even a question?”

The entire class giggles.

-

Is a little horrified at whatever their last teacher had seemingly failed to get them to learn however.

Laughs himself sick when one day he’s faced with teaching them the differences between military and civilian aircrafts.

“I know some of you are probably going to go the military route and you’ll need to know about their different types of aircraft so pay attention.”

“Wait, you’re okay with that?” A girl in the back perks up and Poe frowns back at her from where he was just about to move from leaning on the front of his desk.

“Uh.. yes?”

“Oh... It’s just, Mr. C3PO was completely against the military... in EVERY aspect.” The girl sighs. “Said it wasn’t proper or some shit like that.”

Poe grimaces. Yeah, he's met a lot of people like that. “Well, I mean, it is dangerous... and it’s certainly not for everybody. But depending on what you want to do in life and if the private sector isn’t a good fit for you, the military is an option open to those that don’t mind danger and following orders. And as long as you go into it with the understanding and knowledge that what you’re doing and building will lead to peace in some countries and war in others than that’s pretty much that. You’re all adults, that’s a choice you have to make, not one others can talk you into or out of, let alone a teacher should be making for you.” 

A ripple of conversation starts at the back of the room and Poe can’t help the tightness in his chest at the group of eager young minds around him, whispering like children and how any professor could try and force their ideals on them is beyond him. 

“Besides, I’m the last one who can talk bad about the military.” Poe adds. “Up until a year and a half ago I was a Commander in the Star Fighter Corps., as a pilot.”

“IS THAT WHY YOU CALL DEAN ORGANA, GENERAL?” A voice shouts from the back as a red headed student shoots to his feet in shock.

Poe throws his head back with a laugh, curls bouncing as he runs a hand through his hair and nods. “General Organa was my Commanding Officer for several years before she retired here, yes.”

The room explodes in eager questions.

“You were a pilot! What did you fly?” A lanky boy in the middle asks with wide eyes.

“A T-70 X-wing-”

“I’ve never heard of that?” Another student perks up, climbing up on her seat to eye their teacher with confusion.

Poe laughs, “I’d be surprised if you had, until the end of the contract with Taim & Bak in six more years, a lot of the specs for any X-wing aircraft are still classified.” He pauses hesitantly. “So this doesn’t leave this room.” 

There’s a chorus of agreement that Poe really, really doubts he can take at face value but several students are already putting their hands up and Poe frowns at the girl in the front row that’s probably the jumpiest person he’s ever seen. “These are question hands not bathroom hands right?”  
“Question hands Mr. Dameron.” She replies quietly.

Right.... Poe wonders if he can get them all to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements before the end of class. He points at the red head in the back again who looks like he's going to jump out of his seat. “uh-You?”

“What was the ship like? What kind of engines did you have? What kind of speed could you-”

“Kriffs sake Dak, you only get one question!” A girl snaps from the seat next to the red head whose own hand is waving high in the air.

Yeah, he’s defiantly going to need those NDA’s... but- he just... can’t not talk about his X-wing... it’s like asking Jess not to eat the last donut in the box… gods the General is so going to fire him. 

Poe grins. “So most ran four 4L4 fusial thrust engines, attached to the wings. Mine had a 4j.4 FTE-”

“Whats the difference?” Someone cuts in and Dak, the red headed boy, along with the girl next to him shoot the dark skinned teen a dirty look.

Poe holds up his hands, “Okay, if I'm going to spill classified information to a bunch of young kids then at least don’t interrupt me.”

“Don’t you think maybe you just shouldn’t be telling us this stuff then?” The nervous girl in the front row asks and Poe... well...

“General Organa knew what she was getting into when she hired me to teach. I am honestly the worst person to keep a secret unless my life or a mission was on the line. Surprise parties, don’t even invite me.” Poe offers up and then whirls around to the white board behind him. “So the 4L4 and the 4j.4 engines are actually virtually identical. Except the 4j.4 allowed for more maneuverability-”

“How so?” 

Poe glances up from the drawing he had started doing on the white board of Black One’s engines to look over at Rose Tico who is now sitting on the empty desk right next to the door. “Don’t you have a class?” He asks his fellow teacher.

“Yes.” Rose shrugs. “They’re taking a test. Now, Maneuverability.”

“...right.” Poe turns back to the board and mentally accepts his ‘fired’ status and goes back to trying to draw. “There’s three main differences to consider here: the use of differential thrust between the four engines on an X-Wing that allows you to adjust trajectory;” He finds a different coloured marker and scribbles several equations above the engine drawing. “Two: a high-mass electromagnetic gryoscope fitted to each engine- that’s for me swinging through tight curves at amazingly dangerous speeds and let me tell you, that shit is fun.” He laughs adding in a crude outline of the rather tiny part that kept him from dying so many times. White board markers are not made for fine detail. “Well, it looks sort of like that... we can build one later and you’ll see it better.” 

Several excited squeals ring out behind him and Poe is sure one of them came from Rose. “And third, the 4j.4 was infinitely better due to the ability to fire retro-thrust forward through it’s turbine nozzles.” Poe goes to erase the equations over the engine he’s drawn but the blue haired girl next to Dak, shouts at him.

“Wait! No! I’m not done with that part yet!” 

And Poe steps back, giving her a better look at the board, surprised when he sees computers and paper out on every desk, everyone copying down what he’s written.

“What did you use to conceal the hot exhaust?” Rose piques up as she puts her phone down and Poe can see the camera open on her screen from where he’s standing.

“Infrared suppressors.” 

There’s more mad scrambling as the dark skinned kid slaps the person sitting in front of him who’s looking a little frantic as he takes notes. “I told you that shit was better man!” He jeers, “But what about power? There’s no way the power couplings could handle all that and not blow out?”

Poe perks up a little, at least that parts not classified so he can go into more detail. “In the X-wings I flew-” he goes to erase the board, pausing to make sure no ones going to shout at him again, and when no one does, clears off his terrible drawings to replace it with an actual decent representation of what looks like a giant disc- 

“IS THAT A CRYOGENIC POWER GENERATOR?!” Rose shouts indignantly.

“Yeah, the 04-Z. Novaldex manufactures them for Star Fighter Corps, Resistance Tech and most of it’s subsidiaries. We always got the fun stuff first.” Poe nods, looking over his drawing for a moment before remembering the little metal bits at the front. He adds them in and smiles out over the classroom as Rose climbs out of her borrowed seat to get a better look. Gods he’s missed talking about his fighter. “The Cryogenic capacitors store all the excess energy and it keeps the couplings stable enough to share a balanced amount of power between the systems. No blow out.”

“Maker Dameron...” The other professor sighs dreamily next to him, looking like she wants Poe’s lacklustre drawing to be real so she can take it apart with her bare hands. “Cryogenic capacitors built like that could literally house enough power to send a craft into space!” 

Poe smiles beatifically and taps Rose on the nose with the marker in his hand. “Sorry Nosey-Rosey, that parts actually extremely classified.”

Rose lunges for him as every student starts yelling.

The questions don’t stop, and Rose doesn’t leave, despite Poe telling her over and over again that he isn’t allowed to tell her if he’s been to space or not.

\--

“Transparisteel... it should come out in a few years... I think they’re gunning for it to be sold in civilian markets out in Coursant in less than that though. Trust me, the real world applications of that shit are through the roof, you want to get in the ground floor of any avionics industry and make a kriff load of money, make it that one.”

\--

“Inertial Compensator.” Poe sighs sadly. “Really takes all the fun out of high-g accelerations... and all the G-LOC too, but sometimes you just really want to go fast and feel it for a week you know.”

The blue haired girl beside Dak, Alviran, Poe recalls, is the only one who nods with him.

\--

His drawing of the S-foils- ( “Strike foils is their actual name, but Karé was incredibly lazy and got it shortened a day after they were designed... so there’s that.” ) -look like a kids drawing of a shiskabob and Poe frowns down at it. He kind of wishes Finn were here to draw it for him. 

\--

“Okay, I'm not actually going to talk about the weapons systems.” He tells the class with a steely look after the eighth persons asks. “I am not dealing with those nerf-herders over at T&B ever again unless it’s from the top of a very dark rat infested pit.”

“Can you at least tell us what it was like to serve under Dean Organa?” The dark skinned boy, Ru’lo he remembers finally, asks. 

“Well,” Poe laughs and leans back on his desk. “You ever have someone order you into a burning building and you do it with the complete and utter faith that that person is going to get you back out again?”

Ru’lo stares at him with wide eyes and shakes his head no. The entire class shakes their head no. 

“It was like that.”

\--

Finn shows up a few minutes before the lunch hour and Poe lights up at the sight of him. Finns stomach does a fun little acrobats flip that Finn wasn’t aware it knew how to do, at the sight of that bright smile aimed at him. 

“Oh good you’re here!” Poe says shoving the second white board marker into Finn’s hands before he’s even completely through the door and dragging the younger man over to the large clear glass board that Rose had brought into the room an hour ago when Poe ran out of space again. “Come draw this for me.”

Finn stares up at the letters and numbers and equations that remind him very clearly why he’s an art professor. “What in the name of the stars and skies even is this?”

Poe grins as he points to the top, “Carbanti transceiver package parts! The Ans-5d full-spec transceiver;” He points to the middle. “A Melihat dedicated energy receptor:” and then down to the bottom. “And thats the Tana Ire Electro-photo receptor! I helped the engineers on that one myself.” He says proudly.

“Uh-huh.” Finn’s staring at the board like he’s full expecting it to bite him. He’s almost afraid to ask. “And... that? Is that meat on a stick?” 

Brown eyes follow Finn’s hand as he motions to the white board and Poe’s smile wilts. “Yeah.. I can’t draw. That’s where you come in.” He uncaps the marker in the other teachers hand and Rose snickers beside them from where she’s moved into Poe’s desk after her phone died so she has space for all the notes she's taking. “S-foils Finn!”

“Like... tin-foil?” 

Poe gives the younger man a dramatically faux-hurt expression before launching into a highly detailed description of the s-foil servo actuator and Finn just sighs, knowing he’s just lost his lunch break as he starts drawing following Poe’s outline. 

Well, he still gets to spend it with Poe... so thats at least something. He can feel Roses’ smirk on his back when Poe’s hand lingers after clapping him on the shoulder and he makes a mental note to steal the woman wrench at some point in retaliation.

\--

It’s Rey who ends up breaking up their class, barging into the room half an hour after Finn’s arrival when Poe’s in the middle of another spiel on the s-foils now that he’s got a drawing to reference, and Finn’s been stolen by Rose, who had graciously given up her seat at Poe’s desk after ordering the artist to do as many detailed sketches as he can with the small amount of paper she's managed to find in said desk. 

“-with the additional stabilizers surfaces during air travel. We managed to measure maximum atmospheric readings at around 1,050 kph while they were open. Otherwise we just flew at supersonic speed and didn’t get any readings at all-”

The entire room jumps nearly a foot in the air when the door slams open and Rey stalks in with her hands on her hips. “Where the heck is everybody?” She demands, accent thick with annoyance. “I’m missing half of my class!”

“Oops.” Rose mutters looking down at her phone before remembering it’s dead. Wonders if there’s still any people writing her test that ended… probably forever ago. “What time is it?”

Poe feels his stomach rumble, now that his mouths stopped moving and he looks over at Finn. “And when’s lunch, weren't we supposed to go for lunch?”

Finn just buries his face in his elbow, laughing at Rey’s aggravated shout. 

“Lunch was over half an hour ago Dameron!” Rey snaps as Rose starts to collect her papers from under Finn’s elbow. “What have you been doing-” she pauses, seeing the boards and feels her jaw drop. “Kriff.”

Oh no, Finn thinks. He’s had enough of this. “Okay, class is over.” He announces, getting to his feet as Rose goes to pull Rey out the door with a muttered ‘I have notes Rey, come on!’ He can already see the protest on Poe’s lips but Finn just stops him cold with a look. “They need food and so do you. Plus, you all have other classes today.”

Theres a pattern of annoyed groans from the class but slowly the students start to pack up and filter out. 

“Do we have any homework?” Nervous Girl from the front row asks and Poe makes a face that Finn wants to paint and put up in a museum somewhere. Its adorably horrified.

“That’s going to be a no.” Dak laughs as he and Ru’lo rush out of the room before Poe changes his mind.

“Homework is the worst Finn, do you not remember being in school at all.” Poe asks as he grabs his jacket from where he’d tossed it on the floor halfway through the transparisteel part of his lecture and turns on the younger man. 

Finn distinctly remembers dying under course load after course load of homework. “Alright, alright, can we please go get lunch now? I have to be back in an hour for office hours.”

Poe grins at him widely and takes Finn’s hand in his and pulling the other man down the hall behind him. “Great, we can eat in your office than.”

There’s plenty of things Finn would like to eat in his office… lunch doesn’t top the list but… he tightens his grip on Poe’s hand and follows him anyways.

\---

“Do you think he’s married?” Finn sighs looking across the grounds, head propped up on his elbow on the picnic table the three of them always sit at. It had been such a nice day out that Finn didn’t want to spend their lunch break inside, so he’d been the one sent to bring Rey and Rose coffee today as both of the women were buried under marking tests beside him. 

Rey makes an uninterested sound around the cookie hanging from her lips. Rose however, looks up to follow Finn’s line of sight to where Poe Dameron is standing with a few students and seemingly explaining something with a great amount of enthusiasm if his wide smile and waving arms were anything to go by. “I don’t think so.” She laughs.

“He’s not.” Rey piques up then shoves another half of cookie into her mouth.

Finn frowns at her, finally pulling his gaze away from that smile, and those eyes and the shoulders… “How do you know?”

“No ring.” Rose offers.

“He could just be in a long-term relationship. Not everyone gets married.” Finn sighs morosely. “Besides no one that attractive and nice is still single.” 

Rose hopeful smile falls.

Rey shakes her head, knocking into Finn’s cheek with her iced coffee. “I asked.” At the two shocked faces she can only shake her head again. “I saw those goo-goo eyes you were making the day Organa introduced you, then that smitten thing you did with your face when you visited him for lunch instead of me the day after he started. I’m not an idiot.”

Finn feels his face heat up, groaning at his best friend. Inevitably his eyes go back across the grounds to the topic of their conversation, surprised to see Poe looking back at him. 

The smile Poe sends him- them, Finn reminds- is bright enough to be seen from the stars he thinks.

-

Poe does a whole two weeks worth of classes leaving a mournful looking BB-8 home alone before he breaks down on a Friday night and picks up his phone. “Pava? You busy? You remember when you joked about that seat adapter for BeeBeeAte... do you think it could fit in my Mustang?”

True to form, Jessika Pava shows up on Poe’s doorstep the next morning hauling a trunk full of parts and a tray full of coffee cups. “Personal Droid Service at your...service...”

Poe takes the trunk from her with a laugh. “I hope you’re splitting those coffee’s with me?”

Jess shrugs as she follows her friend inside, sliding her sunglasses up onto the top of her head and letting Poe pull her into a bear hug when he sets the trunk down. She hugs back just as tightly and because she’s the good kind friend says, “Only three are coffee, the other one is just full of whiskey.” And Poe laughs.

BB-8 rolls out of the kitchen then, rolling back and forth in excitement but not moving any closer to the woman and Jessika sighs, waving to the small droid in lieu of an actual greeting. “I see BB-8’s still a little bitter then?”

“A little bit.” Poe chuckles, “Come on, I made breakfast and then we can get started. There’s beer in the fridge for when we’re done your ‘coffee’.”

They eat and it’s almost like the last year wasn’t spent more apart than together. Poe in the hospital healing and Jessika buried in the ensuing investigation into his x-wing. Poe just relishes having at least one of his best friends close by again. 

“Wait... you’re teaching?” Jessika is staring at him like he’s got two heads and Poe frowns at the incredulous tone to her voice. “Like…children?”

“University kids, yeah. A class on Advanced Avionics and another couple on some physics, engineering and aerospace courses.” Poe explains as he glares down at the seat they’re almost finished installing in his back seat. “Pass me that hex wrench.”

She does with a wide smile. “How the hell did you get roped into that Dameron, jeez.”

“Last teacher had to go on stress leave I guess.” Poe shrugs, looking over at Jess with a rueful smile where she’s wedged on top of the console in-between the front and passenger seat of his Mustang so she can work on the backseat without having to crouch. “And the General asked me to do it.” He confesses.

Jessika gives him a funny look, one he doesn’t easily recognize before she turns back to their project. “Do you like it?”

“Well...” Poe gets a bit of grease on his face when he goes to rub at his nose. “Considering I've spent the last two weeks telling impressionable young minds how to go really really fast in the air, more about X-wings than I should and some of our less dangerous engineering projects than I am probably allowed too... I'd say it’s not a matter of if I like the job or not, its more of when I’m going to get fired from said job.” 

Jessika drops her head onto the back seat cushion and laughs, laughs and laughs until she’s crying with it. 

They do eventually get the seat installed and BB-8 chirps gleefully from its new spot inside the car as the two friends sprawl out on his front lawn and drink beer around engine grease smiles. 

-

“Now you have to stay by me okay, Bee?” Poe says to the droid as the adaptor deposits the orange and white ball onto the sidewalk of the teachers parking lot next to him. “No running off just because something looks cool okay?”

BB-8 bleets up at him happily, rolling around in a circle before starting off towards the campus door, it’s human directly beside them and they both completely ignore the weird looks they’re getting as Poe opens the door for his droid to enter the science building. 

Poe does take a snapshot of BB-8 in front of his empty classroom desks though, sending it to Pava along with his thanks, and then he thinks to himself for a moment before sending it to Finn as well with the caption of:

‘Adventure Droid goes to School.’ And a smiley face. Thinks it’ll be enough to get a smile out of the younger man.

Wow… He really needs to keep his feelings under control, Poe thinks with a laugh to himself as BB-8 starts to explore the classroom. Poe’s just starting to boot up the overhead projector when the door to his classroom flies open.

“WHAT IS THIS?” Rey demands storming in and shoving Finn’s phone under Poe’s nose. 

Poe just blinks at her, startled, before raising a hand to push the phone out of his face until he can see the photo he’d just sent Finn enlarged on the screen. “Um, hi Rey.” He glances past her to see Finn right behind her, coffee in hand and looking adorably confused. “Hey Finn.” He must stare at the other man for a beat too long because the next thing Poe knows Rey is grabbing his chin and drawing his face back to the phone in her hand.

“Focus Dameron. Focus on this.” She orders. 

“Okay, okay,” Poe laughs, peeling her hand off of him before taking hold on her shoulders to move her around to his desk. “BB-8.” He calls out and BB-8 rolls out from where it had been inspecting the paper shredder by the wall, and trills curiously.

Rey freezes.

Finn too, blinks for a moment. Then looks down at his coffee with a suspicious eye, wondering to himself if one of the psych professors finally broke down and put those weird happy pills in the coffee pot like they have been threatening to do for years because-

There’s a goddamn actual robot in front of him.

“Holy kriff Rey! Are you crying?” 

“NO!” Rey shouts back, shoving Poe out of the way to kneel down next to the droid. She holds her hand towards the little orange and white ball, amazed when it beeps in a steady row. 

“No, it’s okay BeeBee,” replies Poe. “This is Rey. She’s a teacher too.”

Rey listens with wide eyes as the droid belts out a high pitched sound like a questioning tone. 

“That’s right, ‘Friend-Rey’.”

“It’s sentient?”

“Yup. You can go ahead and touch, they won’t mind.”

The metal under her hands is warm, warm like sun heated sand and Rey almost melts when she sees one of the orange circles on BB-8s round body open up and a small little prob drops into her outstretched hand. “It knows a handshake.” She grins up at the two men behind her before immediately whipping back to the droid with a bit of manic glee.

“It’s getting Bee not to flip you off that’s the real trick.” Poe laughs quietly as he bumps shoulders with Finn. “So, I think you just lost your girlfriend to my droid...sorry about that.” He’s not really all that sorry but feels like he should be.

“Best friend.” Finn corrects as he shakes his head, glancing up from his coffee towards the other man with a fond look. He wasn’t sure why Poe hadn’t been responding to his flirting, but now he thinks he knows. 

Poe startles, “What?” If hearts could actually skip a beat Poe thinks his just did.

Finn chuckles under his breath, for a smart person, Poe could be kind of adorably blind. ‘Cool your jets Trooper,’ Finn thinks to himself. ‘It’s been like two weeks.’ He shrugs then. “Rey’s my best friend, has been for years.”

“Is that so.” Poe wonders if his face is actually smiling as widely as he thinks it is.

“Rose and Rey got married last year.”

“Huh... probably should have figure that out myself.”

“Probably.” Finns grin makes something in Poe’s stomach want to flop over and wave a white flag. The dimple on his cheek makes Poe want to reach out and trace it with his fingers and he wonders if Finn would let him pull him for a kiss- “So you gonna ask-?”

“Dinner?” Poe’s asking before Finn even finishes his question. 

“Saturday?”

“Tonight?”

There’s a gleam of amusement that Finn can’t hide in his eyes and something like adoration flaring in his chest. “My last class is at four.” 

“I’ll pick you up at four thirty?” 

“Four thirty.”

Poe grins so widely that it makes the skin around his eyes crinkle and Finn wants desperately to kiss it. 

Huh... looks like he might get the chance to do that after all.

“Enough flirting you two! Dameron! Get over here and translate BB-8 for me.”

— 

Poe thinks he might have miscalculated in one aspect of bringing BB-8 to class with him; because as it turns out, the entire class absolutely adores his droid. ‘As they should’ Poe thinks, firmly giving into the idea that absolutely nothing is going to get done that day regardless of his cool lesson plan on engines in minus 60 degree weather. 

The news of BB-8 must spread through the science building because the next thing Poe knows, a familiar voice makes a very familiar and much dreaded ‘Ahem’ from the doorway.

Poe freezes where he’s leaning against his desk next to Finn who thankfully has Monday mornings off, so it’s BB-8 who spots Leia first, rolling over to zoom around her feet in rapid circles, happy beeps blaring out of it’s speakers and Leia sighs so heavily Poe can feel it in his bones.

But even General Leia can’t help but smile down at the round rolling robot at her feet, patting it on the head. Says in that tone of voice that carries, so even the ones nearer the back of the classroom can hear her. “Commander.”

Oh, she’s falling back on rank now. Poe muses to himself. That’s...something. “Yes General?”

“Please tell me you didn’t steal a multi-million dollar droid prototype from the Star Fighter Corps on your way out their door?”

“...not alone I didn’t.”

The entire class gasps but next to Poe, Rey is nodding next to him like she wholeheartedly approves. 

Finn just hangs his head in his hands and groans. He’s going on a date with someone walking around with secret military projects and treating them like they’re pets.

The General gives Poe her most scathing look but she’s not sure if she’s just losing her touch or if Poe’s been on the receiving end of it so often that it’s lost its effectiveness because the man just smiles back at her guilelessly.

“Relax General,” Poe finally says laughter pulling at the crinkles around his eyes. “I cleared it with Vice Admiral Holdo. Promised I wouldn’t use Bee to fly with or anything, signed a shit load of NDA papers and they let me take them home. Jessika helped me get her settled and everything.”

The droid beeps at their feet, nudging against Poe’s leg and tilting its domed head back as Poe crouches down in front of the robot.

“No way BeeBee, I’d never let them deactivate you buddy, don’t worry.”

Rey looks livid at the mere mention of such an act.

-

Leia puts a sympathic hand on Finn’s shoulder with a wry grin as Poe dresses the class with BB-8. “Science people.”

“Science people.” He nods back at her and takes a long drag of his disappointedly not-laced coffee.

\--

Rey looks up from the motherboard she’s soldering when Poe appears next to her table and drops a stack of papers about as wide as her hand next to her. “What the hell is that?” She asks flipping up the visor of her welding mask. 

“An NDA.” Poe sighs sheepishly. “General Organa said if you’re going to play with BB-8 you have to read and sign all of it and bring them back to her.”

Hazel eyes regard the pile tepidly. “That’s a single Non-Discolosure?”

Poe nods, wishes her luck and heads back to his classroom with a wave.

Rey wonders what would happen is she just took the mini-torch in her hand to the papers.

—

Finn and Poe’s date goes stupidly good. And so does the next one. And the next one. And the one after that. 

—

The day Finn meets Jessika Pava is a day he won’t ever forget. Its his first time getting tased after all. He’s slowly moving all of his things over to Poe’s place, not even on purpose, it’s just that Finn doesn’t really want to be anywhere else and so most of his paints have ended up in the spare room that Poe cleaned out for him to use as a studio. In return Finn’s gotten into the habit of making breakfast, mostly out of sheer self preservation because he saw what his boyfriend had been living on before and it was worse than the food they sold at the cafeteria at the school.

‘There’s a reason I always want to take you out to dinner Finn.” Poe laughed about it when Finn opened the empty cupboards. ‘Karé and I almost poisoned Jessika when we tried to make cookies once.’

So Finn throws his key in the lock, thinking of dinner and of his paints, and not paying any attention to the small dark haired woman that jumps out of the living room, eyes wide and wary. Finn has maybe two seconds to process the fact that she is not Poe, not Rey and not Rose before she’s charging forward and Finn yelps in pain and then hits the floor shaking. 

When he wakes up Finn realizes he’s laid out on the couch, a familiar callused hand running over his cheek in a soothing manner even as the voice attached to it isn’t soothing at all as it yells.

“-fucks sake Jess, you could have at least asked him who he was-”

“-built like a goddamn brick shit-house Poe! I thought Ben might’ve hired a hitman-”

“Ben doesn’t know where I live Jess- and put BB-8’s goddamn taser down!”

“Hey! It’s not my fault you never introduced me to your boyfriend! He could have been a spy for all I knew!”

Finn groans. “Loud.”

He feels Poe jerk, then both of his hands come up to cup Finn’s face and Finn really just wants his body to stop feeling like he’s spent too much time doing a beep test. 

“Hey buddy, you back with us?”

Finn is, but he’d rather be sleeping. Or doing literally anything else.

—

So it’s enviable that Finn turns to look at his boyfriend and say “We should introduce her Rose and Rey.”

Poe frowns but agrees.

“Dinner. Definitely dinner.” Finn mutters watching Jess tear apart what looks like a robot arm. “They need to date.”

“Um, okay?”

So Poe pops his head in on Rey’s class the next day when he has a free minute and asks, “Are you and Rose free this weekend? Finn says he wants you two to go on a date with one of my friends.” Poe’s done a lot in his life, including doing an Immelmann turn at too high an altitude that he almost stalled, but this probably tops the charts because Finn had not explained his reasoning, just asked if Poe would do this without understanding why and Poe couldn’t do anything but agree.

Damn he has it bad…

Rey regards him with a critical eye, one Poe’s seen Finn give masterpieces at the museum but she nods regardless. “Date and Time?” She asks.

“Saturday, noon at Chewies?”

“I’ll let Rose know.” 

Poe nods back stiltedly but doesn’t ask. He really really wants too... but doesn’t.

—

“Look, you don’t have to say anything, I get it’s not your secret to tell,” Poe says later that night, standing at the foot of his bed and looking down at Finn whose flipping through his students art history essay with the sexiest pair of reading glasses on his face. And nothing else. “But just tell me I'm not sending my friend in there to get hurt.”

Finn regards him cooly, cocking his head to the side as he stares at the man before him whose in nothing but his sleep pants. He smiles helplessly. “No.” Finn says. “But it’s adorable that you're more worried about Jessika getting hurt then the actual terrifying idea of the three of them getting along and ganging up on you.”

Poe’s face turns an interesting shade of white and Finn pokes his lover with his foot only for Poe to catch his leg by the ankle and hold onto it, all without blinking. “I think I've made an error...” Poe finally mutters.

Another quiet minute later and Poe’s falling to his knees at the foot of the bed and resting his face against the part of Finn’s ankle that he had been holding. “Oh gods… this is gonna be so bad… Finn!”

Finn just laughs, his pile of essays sliding off the bed when Poe tries to haul him off the blankets from his spot on the floor.

\--

On Friday Rey corners him in the small little kitchenette off the staff room and frowns at the cup of dark brown sludge in Poe’s orange mug. “You really shouldn’t drink the stuff that comes out of there.” She side eyes the coffee machine like it could grow legs and attack them. 

“I've had worse.” Poe shrugs, because he has. Whatever had come out of the coffee machines back at Star Fighter Corps, had not been fit for human consumption but it had kept them awake and alert so none of them had asked too many questions. “Whats up?”

“Hm?”

“I never see you in here... or did you come in just to insult my taste in coffee?”

“That’s not coffee.” Rey reiterates, but squares her shoulders. “I’m Asexual.”

Poe’s very glad he hadn’t actually taken a sip of his drink yet because that is by far the furthest thing he could ever have imagined coming up in any of their conversations before eight in the morning. “Uh... okay?”

Rey sighs, she hates having to explain this, and the inevitable ‘That’s not a thing.’ The ‘It’s just a phase’ the ‘Are you sure you just haven't met the right person yet’ speech. Like Rose isn’t her perfect person. “It means-”

“I know what it means,” Poe frowns waving off her words. “I’m just wondering why you’re telling me? Thank you for telling me, though... just, um, why? You didn’t have too.”

She startles, eyes narrowing. “Finn said you were worried about why the three of us were going out.” 

Poe feels the smile already tugging at his lips. “Rey, you don’t owe me any explanations, sweetheart.” He reaches out to put a hand on her shoulder and is pleased when she doesn’t shrug it off. “And yeah I’m worried about Pava, but I’m also kind of worried about you two.” Poe admits and when Rey narrows her eyes at him in confusion, he continues. “Well, I mean, It kind of came out of nowhere, and I thought you may be having troubles in your marriage or something... or maybe just one of you wanted to sleep with her while the other didn't but felt pressured too, and Jess, she- how can I put this? She doesn’t like people who cheat.” Poe presses a hand to the bridge of his nose. “She… she once dated this guy who never told her he was married and then she found out about it…”

Rey smirks. “What did she do?” 

“Broke three of his fingers, one of his knee caps and got him thrown from the mission we were working on.” He sighs heavily. “Then dated the guys wife for a while.” That had been the real cherry on top, Poe thinks. 

Rey’s grin is toothy and bright, she can respect that. “Please tell us more.” She asks, dragging Poe behind her as they make their way to Rose’s office.

-

The three women go on their date at noon and Poe isn’t really surprised when Jess doesn’t come home until Sunday night, looking tired but much like the cat that ate the canary. He’s laying on top of Finn on the couch while Finn runs his magic fingers through Poe’s hair when she barges through the door and collapses in the overstuffed armchair 

She goes on to tell him how she and Rose had sex over six times, while Rey watched.

“Completely naked next to us Poe... it was like a dream. She let me kiss her and damn…” Jessika sighs happily and Poe just grunts into Finn’s chest. That does not sound like fun to him...unless it was just him and Finn, then that’d be fun.

Then they had breakfast and fought over mechanical stuff. Then had more sex while Rey took a shower. And then Jessika took them to dinner and they sat there talking for hours, holding Rey’s hand while they designed a mini-turbo thruster for BB-8. 

“She’s so smart Dameron.” She states and Poe blinks open one eye to look over at his friend, 

“whic’ one?” 

“BOTH OF THEM, Genius’s I swear....I, uh, left them my number.” 

Poe stares at her in shock, now wide awake. Finn looks down at him in concern. 

“Pod person?” Poe asks hesitantly. 

“Marigolds, you bitch.” Jess replies and Poe looks not convinced in the slightest. 

Finn just falls back into the couch and decides not to ask.

\--

The entire class falls in love with Bb-8, a few of the engineering students help Rey create ramps all over the campus and Poe’s never smiled so widely at anybody. BB-8 also becomes the mascot of the science wing and the therapy droid Poe had already been using it as.

"Sir, that's our emotional support droid." One person piques up when Poe tries to shoo the droid out during a test that BB-8 had been distraction people during. “You can’t send them away, I’ll panic!”

And then Finn shows up a month later with a large oil painting of Bb-8 with, and Poe’s jaw drops and his eyes tear up much to Finns horror, Black One in the background.

“Rose told Rey about Black One... and then BB-8 apparently tried to show her a picture...” Finn says hesitantly as Poe thumbs over the oil painting of his plane. “But it was really blurry so the girls got together and helped me draw it out from their specs... um, I hope it looks okay...”

Poe sets the painting on his desk with a reverence he’s only given to a few things in his life and flings his arms around Finn so tightly he might fear that he was choking the other man. “Thank you. It’s perfect, thank you.” Poe feels like his heart might be splitting in his chest. As if he wasn’t head over heels for Finn already. 

The painting goes up in a place of honour over Poe’s desk, and everyday BB-8 bleeps our a string of binary that no one in the class recognizes, not even Rey, but Poe knows had been her code for greeting Black One.

\--

Unexpectedly… or rather, as one should expect with Poe Dameron around, there’s an explosion. 

Something explodes in the middle of Poe explaining about how to fly in low to no atmosphere and he ducks likes he’s being shot at again. He’s back on his feet before the alarm even starts sounding, “Evac. now!” He orders calmly, motioning for his students to start moving. They must sense a bit of his calmness, and Poe has a lot of calmness under fire, because his life… so Poe has them rounded up and out the door in moments. The hallway is amassed with students, some screaming and some running, but it doesn’t take much for Poe to get them under control as well.

A sharp whistle that almost hurts to hear and Poe has everyones attention. “Stay calm, get to the exits. Ru’lo, Alviran, you two are in charge.” He points at the two who immediately start to round up the more scared looking students. “Take roll when you get outside and make sure everyone stays together!”

“It’s the robotics and Engineering room!” Professor Nien shouts as he runs up to Poe who is watching the hallways slowly start to clear of students and staff, but not yet leaving himself. 

Poe’s stomach drops and he whips around, whistling for BB-8 as they race in the opposite direction of everyone else.

They get to the lab and Poe helps a few students get out that are hurt, telling others how to carry them out, then one student tells them that they haven’t seen Rose or Rey leave yet. Poe runs towards the main lab where they were teaching and calls out for Rey. BB-8 tells him that there are two life forms inside and then he hears Rey calling out to him.

Despite the fire and the burning chemical smell Poe runs into the room to see Rey trying to lift a section of ceiling off of Rose. Together they manage to lift it off of her, both of them getting burnt in the process. Rose is completely unconscious.

After the ceiling part is gone, Poe sees the piece of rebar sticking out of Roses’s leg thats pinning her to the floor. He gets BB-8 to cut it with his torch that Rey’s shocked to see he has. “You’re holding out on me about our droid!”

“OUR DROID!?” 

“I signed your stupid NDA, that makes me a co-parent!”

They’re interrupted by a rumble and Rey screams the more of the ceiling is going to collapse and Poe stops, scoops up Rose and shouts “BB-8! SHEILD!” Poe bodily protects Rey and Rose as BB-8 puts up a shield around them that protects them from the flame and the ceiling but not the heat. 

Which is why Poe put himself on the outside.

Finally the collapse stops and BB-8 beeps that’s she's slowly losing power but they are secure, nothing will fall around them and Poe nods as the shield shuts off and they’re scrambling to their feet, Poe wincing in pain as he lifts Rose bridal style and he has Rey roll BB-8 and lead the way as safely as she can towards the ambulance and fire trucks .

—

“What part of the military were you in again?” Rey asks faintly as EMT’s swarm her and Poe. 

Poe just smiles at her, dust coating his hair and a mean red burn on his cheek. “Just a pilot.” He laughs, and then excuses himself, brushing aside the EMT. Rushing toward the designated evacuation spot with worry for his students clogging his throat. Only the sight he comes up on surprises him. His class is all sitting around one another, the epitome of calm despite the group of panicking students around them. Some even reassuring other students.

Dak is the first to see him and he immediately reaches out to smack Nervous Girl, who actually isn’t freaking out like Poe thought she would be. “There he is!”

Ru’lo is the first to reach him and Poe claps the young man on the shoulder with his good hand. “Sit rep?” Poe asks, doing a silent count of heads himself as he takes in face after face. 

“All present and accounted for,” Alviran states firmly from next to him. “No injuries professor… except yourself .” She raises a fine eyebrow at his arm and Poe grimaces back at her. 

“That’s great.” he nods. “Thank you Alviran.”

“Roll call confirms all the students from Professors Tico’s and Professor Rey’s classes are here as well sir.” Nervous girl states firmly and Poe startles, apparently she’s very good under pressure. “All emergency services were contacted by Ru’lo upon evacuation and Dean Oragana was present at their arrival. Bomb squad is apparently on their way with the K-9 unit, however all other teachers from the science wing are reporting a successful evacuation and preliminary examinations of the building by the Fire Department is that’s its still structurally sound.” 

Poe kind of gapes at her for a moment, takes in the smear of ash on her cheek and the double twist of dirty blonde hair at her neck. He points a finger at her and grins unrepentedly. “When you need a job… let me know. I have the perfect thing for you.”

“DAMERON!” The General shouts as she and her brother round the corner. They’re both clean but there’s a line of stress around Leia’s eyes that Poe hasn’t seen in a few years. Not since he was found, broken and bleeding and alone-

“Oh, Ma’am! You’re okay!” Poe can’t help the sigh he lets out as he slowly stumbles towards the older woman. The small thread of worry he wasn’t letting himself look at too closely unraveling at the sight of her. 

“For Kriff’s sake Commander!” Leia growls out, reaching out to pull Poe into an embrace that makes his eyes go wide and smile turn to confusion. She lets go when he hisses in pain, pulling back enough to inspect the large burn that’s running down Poe’s left arm, melted fabric and scorched skin meeting her gaze. “Oh, Poe.”

“It’s not that bad General.” He says quietly, but Leia’s already dragging him away towards the crowd of ambulance and leaving his group of students laughing behind him.

\--

Poe barely remembers being passed off to the medics, and then he’s not sure if he passes out from the pain he’s doing his best not to notice, or if the EMT’s give him a sedative when they finally get him in the bus. 

He just knows he wakes up groggy in a hospital bed, his left arm covered in bandages so thick that he can’t move his arm at all. His other hand, however, is covered with something warm and Poe looks over to see a familiar expanse of shoulders and beautifully rowed hair and his face breaks out in a dopey grin as Finn looks over at him from the phone in his hand. 

“You’re awake.” Finn says relieved.

“Hi.” Poe’s mouth has that funny fuzzy feeling he always manages to get when painkillers are involved. He takes a moment, just enjoying the way Finn’s looking at him with a mix between concern, exasperation and fondness. It makes something in his stomach flip over in glee... or it could be the lingering smoke inhalation. Poe’s not a hundred percent sure. “So I don’t hurt...” He finally slurs out, shifting a bit to try and prop himself up. “I shoul’, but I don’t...”

“Poe Dameron.” Finn starts then cuts himself off, clutching a bit tighter to the pale hand under his own, voice shaking. “Please never do that again.”

“Izz ever’one okay? Ro’e?” Poe really wants to sit up but Finn just presses him back down onto the bed with a firm hand on his chest. 

“Everyones fine. Rose is a room over, Rey’s with her now.” The art professor sighs back, moving to sit on the edge of Poe’s bed to get a better look at him while he presses the nurse call button. 

“BB?”

“Rey hasn’t let her out of her sight.”

Oh, that’s good... that’s really good. Poe mumbles under his breath, but the painkillers are doing their job and he glares at the IV attached to his wrist, starting to twist his hand to grab hold of it, fully intending to take it out because ugh; but Finn laces his fingers through his hand, stopping him.

“Absolutely not. You’re staying in this bed, attached to this drip may I add, even if I have to sit on you.”Poe grins up at the other man sleepily, trying to infect his gaze with as much of a leer as he can. He’s pretty sure he’s not successful. “Izzat an offer?”

He hears Finn scoff out a laugh and then Poe knows nothing else as he falls back to sleep.

\--

Poe wakes up to the sound of familiar yelling and the dreadful hope that his heart monitor isn’t reflecting the uptick of unease making his pulse race. He has just enough time to calm his heart beat, licking his lips as he mutters out a low “My bad,” to Finn who’s now watching the door with a good amount of trepidation. 

Finn turns on him and gives him a wide eyed look. “Poe?”

“Help me up?” Poe holds out his one good arm to his boyfriend and smiles giddily when Finn actually moves to help him sit up. He’s mostly finally all the way up, pillows stacked behind his back, when the door to his room bangs open and Finn, bless him, throws an arm in front of the idiotic version of the man of his dreams on the bed. 

“Did- did you just mom-arm me?” Poe can’t help but ask happily, wrapping his one moveable arm around Finn’s in front of him, highly impressed, because never let it be said that Jessika Pava and Karé Kun were not imposing figures. 

“WHAT IN THE KRIFFING MAKER”S HELL DAMERON?!” Karé snaps as she storms into he room. Dress uniform pristine even if she’s waving her hat at Poe like a weapon.

Jess is right behind her, wide grin on her face as she laughs. “Ohh, you’re in for it now.” She says and Poe glares at her from his safe spot behind Finn’s arm. 

“Sit rep.” Karé orders, crossing her arms as she glares down at her oldest friend. 

“Can’t fly.” Poe ends up shrugging as best he can with one arm in bandages and the other still wrapped around Finn’s in front of him. “Otherwise…good.. I mean, not ideal I'm still in the hospital... but-” he rubs his cheek against the soft fabric of Finn’s shirt until the man next to him sighs defeatedly because apparently High-on-Painkillers Poe Dameron is the same as Two-Drinks Poe Dameron. “Good. Mouths dry... Bb-8’s down.” “What the hell did you do to that poor droid now?” Jess huffs out.

Karé raises an eyebrow at her squad-mate. “Jess, do you have any room to talk?”

“...destroyer of droids.” Poe chuckles under his breath and lets himself slide sideways into Finn’s shoulder. 

Karé lets her eyes travel from her friend, up to the younger man he’s holding onto. “Hello... and who’s this?”

Poe clutches Finn’s arm a bit tighter, “Mine.”

Finn rolls his eyes and holds out the hand that’s not currently being held captive by his adorably-high-on-painkillers-boyfriend. “Finn Trooper Ma’am.

“He’s the Hot-Boyfriend.” Pava chuckles looking over the younger man. “He’s friends with my girlfriends.”

“Hah, well then you don’t have to ma’am me kid,” Karé laughs, reaching out to take his hand as she puts her beret in the pocket of her dress uniform. “Anyone that can deal with him is worth a lot of salt to us.” She points to herself than to the woman next to her. “I’m Lieutenant Karé Kun, this is Jessika Pava.”

“They met.” Poe sniggers into Finn’s sweater and the younger man can’t help the flat look he sends him. 

“You tase a guy one time.” Jessika scoffs, crossing her arms as Karé turns wide eyes on her. “I’m going to go check on Rose and Rey.” With that, the dark haired woman is out the door before Kun can stop her. 

“For fucks sake.” Karé sighs, finally turning back to her old leader on the bed, only to see Finn slowly lowering a mostly asleep Poe back down onto the hospital bed. “Really?”

Finn to his credit, just looks up at the woman with a sheepish smile and a nod. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

The woman sighs, and looks down at Poe. “What happened to being retired.”

“Got a job. Turns out this teaching thing is actually really exciting.” Poe manages to say to the the two left in his room, voice slurring with exhaustion and pain meds. 

Karé closes her eyes in exasperation while Finn looks about two seconds away from hitting him upside the head. 

“You know that’s not exactly how teaching works right… there usually isn’t explosions right?” Finn sighs but Poe’s shaking his head, curls bouncing on the thin pillow. 

“Should be… they’re fun…”

\--

Poe gets out of the hospital first. And by that Finn walks into the room one day to find Poe getting changed after discharging himself. Finn says that Poe needs to stay, but Poe just says that Finn can look after him at home now, with a super sly smile.

Poe had to take over some of Rose’s classes and Rey takes some of her wife’s other classes. It’s so close to the end of the school year that Leia can’t get any replacements in who know the work fast enough. 

Exams get taken and everyone passes. 

Over the summer Finn and Poe are pretty much inseparable. 

\--

Then the next school year starts:

Leia startles when, not two days into the new semester she finds a group of three students waiting outside her door.

‘He’s completely awful.’ Dak says.

‘No clue in his fucking head!’ The female states and the other two nod along.

‘Can’t we have Mr. Dameron back?’ The third, who had taken Poe’s physics class asks; all baby faced and pleading eyes.

Leia firmly tells them no, that she had to fight tooth and nail to get this professor to come teach here.

The next day she’s met with a group of four second years this time.

‘Please Mrs. Organa, He’s the worst teacher ever.’ The girl with buns in her hair cries out.

‘He doesn’t even know the difference between a power convertor and a compressor!’ Ru’lo groans. 

The third one, Leia recognizes her as the one from the front row seat of most of Poe’s classes…

Nervous Girl grits out. “Where’s Mr. Dameron? I’ll pay him to come back. I will.”

The forth boy just stands there clutching his book with tears in his eyes.

And for the first time in her entire career, Leia hesitates. 

The next day it’s Rey and Rose barging into her office, followed by every student in the Avionics class and the engineering classes and the—

Leia puts a hand over her mouth and shares a look with Luke whose staring at the masses with a slack jaw and wide blue eyes. 

“BRING HIM BACK. NOW.” Rey grits out, a canopy of voices echoing behind her in agreement.

Leia eyes the group of students, almost a hundred of them crammed into the hallway just outside of her offices. She raises an eyebrow at her brother and points to the group.

“He’s still not a teacher Leia.” Luke sighs, “I was able to get him by for the four months, but he’s not qualified to be a teacher.”

The group of students collectively yell out, trying to be heard over one another. ‘YES! YES HE ACTUALLY IS. AND HE’S SMART AND FUNNY AND SEXY AND WE MISS BB-8. AND HE’S BEEN QUALIFIED THIS ENTIRE TIME! HE THOUGHT US IN FOUR MONTHS WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE LEARNED IN THE PAST YEAR!

Rose steps forward, hands held up placatingly. “Mr. Skywalker... Dean Organa... please. Just, if you don’t believe us, just come with us. Come sit in on his class.”

Leia’s already on her feet, ready to go with a knowing look on her face and Luke sighs heavily, following after the mass of science students reluctantly.

They last about twenty minutes. 

Twenty minutes before Luke is, as politely as he can, shoving the professor out the door and slamming it loudly behind the older man. The administrator gasps for a moment, breath coming in short little horrified bursts as Luke’s entire body twitches, not sure where he wants to start. He points at his sister and manages to get out between clenched teeth. “Go get Dameron. I’ll clear it with the rest of the Admins.”

Leia laughs the entire way out of the science hall and towards the parking lot as the students cheer.

Rey and Rose high five each other before Luke turns on them. “I need a drink.” The two women smirk and loop their arms with his tugging him off towards the Robotic’s lab. 

“We can defiantly help you with that.” Rose laughs as they leave a group of excited students behind them. She can hear the pinging of phones as the news spreads of Dameron’s hopefully emanate return. 

Rey shoots her a look full of glee over Lukes shoulder and Rose can’t help the way she winks at her wife before nodding towards Rey’s back pocket where the other woman phone is. Rey merely nods, pulling out her phone and pulling up Finn’s number. 

Someone should warn Poe afterall.

\--

Poe’s jaw cracks as he yawns. 

He hears the chime on his phone, signalling a text from Finn and his grin widens, throwing open the messaging app only to frown.

‘Put on pants.’ The text reads and Poe’s frown deepens as he looks down at his personalized BB-8 boxers that Finn had gotten him... it’s not exactly the text he had been hoping for. Normally it’s the exact opposite that his boyfriend sends him. 

Poe’s halfway through a text asking Finn why, exactly he needs to put on pants, and actually putting on said pants, because he trusts Finn and if Finn says he needs pants, then Poe’s going to put on pants- when there’s a knock on his door. 

He almost drops his phone, yelling for BB-8 to get the door when he remembers that Finn was taking his droid to work to leave with Rey for their date night tonight. Poe huffs for a moment, cursing the time-share he’s now found himself in with his boyfriends best friend, but shrugs on a shirt that he’s pretty sure is not only Finn’s but also inside out, as he races for the front door.

Opening it, and he’s so thankful that Finn messaged him to put on pants, so very fucking grateful. When he’s met with an amused looking Leia Organa staring back at him.

“General!?” Poe yelps, stepping back and running a hand through his hair, down his shirt in a last bid attempt to look halfway presentable. “Er, hi, welcome, come on in.”

‘Fucking Thank You Finn.’ Poe screams inside his head as Leia steps into the entryway. It’s not like she’s not seen him in worse condition, or in less clothing, but Poe has some hope for never repeating those incidents. Ever.

They step into the living room and Poe just kind of hovers awkwardly. Not sure if he should fall into parade rest or offer her tea and cookies. He has no idea why, but Poe smells a trap every time she drops by to visit him unexpectedly like this. 

But Leia is distracted when her own phone goes off, and she glances down at her phone for a moment. Brow furrowing before she glances up at Poe who’s watching her curiously. “I knew when I hired Finn that he was amazing, but really, your young man is quiet extraordinary in many more aspects than even I could have figured.” She laughs, tossing her phone at Poe who catches it as she makes her way into the kitchen.

“Look on the kitchen table.” Poe reads aloud, then panics. Oh god. Finn didn’t. He races into the kitchen but it’s already too late.

“So you went and got an a teaching degree in a summer? ” Leia muses, holding the plague with amusement and Poe buries his face in his hands as he groans in embarrassment. 

“I- I thought I might pick up some, you know... guest lectures and such.” Poe admits, flopping down on one of the stools at the counter. He gives the woman a rueful grin. “Turns out I actually kind of liked it...teaching.” Poe frowns. “What? Why are you smiling at me like that? That’s not even your ‘I told you so’ smile.”

“I have an ‘I told you so’ face?” Leia can’t help but ask amusedly.

Poe shrugs, she does, but he’s not telling her what it looks like. “Why did Finn tell you about that anyways, General?” He asks instead. 

Leia smiles. She smiles in a way that makes her wonder when the last time she smiled this much was. Back before she was a General and trying to keep a family together when she was too busy with war. She digs in her pocket for a moment, coming out with a keyring that she throws, harder than she has too exactly, at her favourite subordinates head. 

He catches them like she knew he would. Brown eyes glance down at the set of keys that until two months ago had made a home next to his keys for his car and bike. “My office keys?” Poe asks not even realizing the concession he’s making by calling them his. 

“Indeed.” Leia nods, straightening her blazer with a small tug and starts towards the door. “See you at work tomorrow Dameron... preferably with a shirt not inside out.”

Poe stares down at the keys in his hands as the weight of Leia’s words finally hit him. He’s off his stool in a flash running after his boss. “Wait, what? General? General?! Boss- Leia!! Wait! WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!”

Her laughter rings through the house and Poe doesn’t have to wonder why he sensed a trap earlier. He’d gladly follow Leia into anything. Especially this.

\--

Poe’s grinning a little too widely as he walks into his classroom- HIS CLASSROOM, (and he doesn’t even have tenure) BB-8 hot on his heels, almost getting bowled over by the cheers and thunderous applause as he opens the door. 

And it’s not just his students he realizes, but Rey is there as well, sitting on top of the desk Rose is occupying, both of them cheering when BB-8 rolls over to them screeching binary at the top of its speakers. 

“Class doesn’t even start for another hour!” Poe exclaims at the crowd as he laughs.

“It’s been an entire summer Poe! We need an hour of BB-8!”

Poe laughs and puts his hands on his hips. “OH, I see how it is, ask Leia to bring me back so you can see my droid every day!”

“Of course.” Rey grins, sliding onto the floor to hug the droid as several students come over to her as well.

Brown eyes crinkle with amusement, only for Poe to jump in the next moment when a familiar broad hand sweeps around his waist and pulls him backward. Finn plants a kiss to his cheek and around them the entire class roars with delighted whoos. 

“Missed you.” Finn huffs. Like they didn’t seen each other last night. “Welcome back.”

“I’m back.” Poe grins, dropping his bag by his desk so he can pull Finn into a proper kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm planning more chapters, but I've also said that before so you know... they could possibly exist at some point.


End file.
